The Deskbound Birder: China Wetlands (Birdquest) Tour

Sunday 6 November 2016

China Wetlands (Birdquest) Tour - 6th November (Day 3)

We were up for a 06:00 departure and headed for the Dingling area of the Ming Tombs outside of Beijing, and were early enough to avoid the traffic horrors of the city. Here we birded an area of persimmon orchard at the back (south-west) of the tombs in very grey and gloomy weather conditions. The orchards are traditionally managed with extensive areas of scrub and weed and with the distinctive bright orange fruit of the persimmon vivid against the bare trees and grey skies. The fruit are clearly highly attractive to many of the thrush, finch and bunting that winter here. We birded the orchards until 15:00 with an hour break for lunch. The birding was fantastic with large flocks of 100’s of Brambling and smaller flocks of Naumann’s Thrush. Amongst the Naumann’s Thrush were small numbers of Rufous-throated Thrush and Dusky Thrush giving us the opportunity to study the plumage variation amongst these species. Small flocks of bunting consisted of Little Bunting, Rustic Bunting, Yellow-throated Bunting, Meadow Bunting, Pallas’s Reed Bunting and a single male Godlewski’s Bunting. Amongst the scrub Siberian Accentor was moderately common with around ten birds seen, it was great to see this species after missing all those in the UK this year. Other birds in this area included Chinese Nuthatch, the rather wacky Chinese Bush-dweller, Grey-capped Woodpecker, Grey-faced Woodpecker, Great-spotted Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Tit, Plain Laughingthrush and Oriental Greenfinch. But one of the highlights was a male Chaffinch, a China tick for our guide Hannu and a vagrant to the area.

Siberian Accentor - Dingling Tombs, Beijing

Red Squirrel of subspecies orientis - Dingling Tombs, Beijing

Brambling - Dingling Tombs, Beijing

Chaffinch, a vagrant to the area - Dingling Tombs, Beijing

Naumann's Thrush - Dingling Tombs, Beijing

Naumann's Thrush (adult) - Dingling Tombs, Beijing

Naumann's Thrush - Dingling Tombs, Beijing

Rufous-throated Thrush was far less common than Naumann's and

we only saw around three individuals - Dingling Tombs, Beijing

Dusky Thrush - Dingling Tombs, Beijing

Rustic Bunting - Dingling Tombs, Beijing

Little Bunting - Dingling Tombs, Beijing

Meadow Bunting - Dingling Tombs, Beijing

Godlewski's Bunting - Dingling Tombs, Beijing

Yellow-throated Bunting, with two in Norway this November this is surely

a potential addition to the British List - Dingling Tombs, Beijing

Yellow-throated Bunting - Dingling Tombs, Beijing

Plain Laughingthrush - Dingling Tombs, Beijing

Chinese Bush-dweller - Dingling Tombs, Beijing

Persimmon fruit, striking despite the very gloomy weather conditions- Dingling Tombs, Beijing

Yellow-bellied Tit - Dingling Tombs, Beijing

Chinese Nuthatch - Dingling Tombs, Beijing

Silver-throated Tit - Dingling Tombs, Beijing

Vinous-throated Parrotbill - Dingling Tombs, Beijing

Magpie, of the race serica is similar to European races but is

genetically distinct - Dingling Tombs, Beijing

Asian Azure-winged Magpie - Dingling Tombs, Beijing

The orchards at Dingling Tombs, Beijing, the roof of the tombs building can be seen in the centre

Orchads at Dingling Tombs, Beijing

We finished our birding at the orchard at 15:00 and battled through the congested streets of Beijing to a restaurant where we had the now familiar Chinese fare. We then headed to Beijing Railway Station for a 17:20 train south to Yendu arriving at 06:01 on the morning of the 7th November. We ‘slept’ in a very snug but not too bad sleeper cabin which accommodated four people in rather stuffy conditions. We were pleased to arrive at Yendu.

Life Birds;